I

ndonesia, home to world’s largest Muslim population, has not been spared from the Korean Wave.

In the beginning of this decade, the waves of the Korean cultural tsunami struck Indonesia through a string of soap opera miniseries and romances featuring handsome men and beautiful women with strong storylines, families and featuring the problems of modern life.

Like elsewhere in Asia, the most popular Korean love epic, Winter Sonata, was the first Korean drama ever broadcast on Indonesian TV. Since then, numerous other dramas and films have been shown on Indonesian television channels.

Though these Korean cultural products — mostly popular among girls and middle-aged women — still lagged behind local reality shows in the ratings, they were certainly the most popular among Asian drama series and films.

But why?

“I like the way Korean artists perform on stage. It’s the whole package — their appearance, moves and singing. I like it very much. My favorite bands are JYJ and TVXQ,” Rizka Pertiwi, a graduate of Binus University in Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

In fact, many Indonesian youth fell in love with Korean music, especially K-Pop, through the Internet and later frequented concerts.

The number of fans of Korean culture in Indonesia has also been growing rapidly. More and more Indonesians have been showing interest in Korean language, arts, culture and food. The Korean community is now the biggest foreign community in Indonesia, with almost 50,000 people.

In an effort to introduce the Korean language and culture to Indonesians as well as to meet the demand from Indonesian fans of the Korean Wave, the Korean government is opening its first Korean Cultural Center in Jakarta today, Monday, July 18.